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Divij Sharan Becomes Asia’s Top-Ranked Doubles Player

All the 41 players above Divij Sharan are pre-dominantly from Europe, USA and a few from South American countries like Brazil and Argentina.

Published: October 11, 2019 4:06 PM IST

By India.com Hindi Sports Desk | Edited by Ameya Tilak

Divij Sharan Becomes Asia's Top-Ranked Doubles Player
In 28 tournaments played this year, Divij Sharan paired with 10 different partners. ©Twitter

Divij Sharan on Friday became the Asia’s top-ranked doubles player in the latest ATP rankings list in doubles. The Indian jumped three places to move to the 42nd spot in the rankings.

The 41 players, who are ahead of the Indian, are pre-dominantly from USA, Europe and some from the South American nations like Argentina and Brazil.

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“It feels great to reach this milestone. It’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Divij told PTI.

Divij Sharan, keeping an eye on Tokyo Olympics, joined forces with compatriot Rohan Bopanna. The two began their partnership with a bang as the two won the Tata Open Maharashtra.

But the partnership did not go the distance and decided to part ways following a series of poor results. Their rankings, in 40s, did not allow the two to get entry into the bigger tournaments.

Following the same, Divij, the left-handed player from Delhi, switched partners throughout the season.

Divij, in the 28 tournaments played in 2019, played with ten different partners. The Indian had a decent run of results with Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner. The two reached the final of the BMW Open in Munich. Divij went on to win the St Petersburg Open with Slovakia’s Igor Zelenay.

“It’s true I have played with different partners but I have had some consistent partnerships in the last 52 weeks with Artem, Rohan and Marcelo. It’s been different dynamics in all these partnerships but I have tried to focus on my game and how best I can contribute to the team,” said Divij.

Divij also highlighted that he and Bopanna will join the forces one again.

“Rohan and I had to split because we were not getting into the bigger tournaments together. We are both looking forward to playing with each other at the Olympics. We will try to play some tournaments together leading up to the Games. In fact we are going to play together at the Stockholm Open next week.”

The two – Divij and Bopanna, who is ranked 44 – are beneficiaries of the government’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

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